Kopan Course No. 38 (2005)

By Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche
Kopan Monastery, Nepal (Archive #1544)

Lamrim teachings given by Lama Zopa Rinpoche at the 38th Kopan Meditation Course, held at Kopan Monastery, Nepal, in December 2005. Lightly edited by Gordon McDougall.

Go to the Index page to view an outline of topics and click on the links to go directly to the lectures. You can also download a PDF of the entire course.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Portland, Oregon, 2006. Photo: John Berthold.
Kopan Course No. 38 Index Page

The Index Page provides an outline of the topics discussed in each of the lectures. Click on the links below to go directly to a particular lecture.

Please note: As the tapes were not dated, the lecture dates are approximate.

Lecture 1: The Kopan Experience
  • Not understanding karma, we suffer
  • The experiences of the early Kopan students
  • Dharma in Italy
  • Attachment makes life so expensive
  • We have no concept of “mother” in the womb
  • We believe in the hallucination
  • The mantras on Rinpoche’s car
  • The object of anger does not exist
  • Every time we hold on to the I as true we are creating ignorance
  • Believing in the real face, attachment arises
  • Dedication
Lecture 2: The Merely Imputed I
  • Pervasive compounding suffering is samsara
  • There is an I on this cushion but not on the aggregates
  • The root of samsara according to the four schools
  • The object of refutation for the Cittamatra school
  • True existence is decorated on to the merely labeled I
  • Practicing the mindfulness of emptiness in daily life
  • The causal and resultant refuge in the refuge prayer
  • The three causes of refuge
  • Dedication
  • The mindfulness of emptiness while sitting and at breaktime
Lecture 3: Actualizing the Path to Enlightenment
  • Working only for this life, we are the same as the animals
  • Buddha nature means we have the potential to become a buddha
  • The story of Milarepa
  • When our mind is clearer, we can see the buddhas
  • Four people recite the Tara prayers (back to)
  • There is no satisfaction with the eight worldly dharmas
  • With this precious human rebirth, we can achieve any happiness
  • The Dharma is universal
  • The lung of the Heart of Wisdom Sutra and the Thirty-five Buddhas prayer: Motivation
  • The lungs of the Heart Sutra and Thirty-five Buddhas
  • To practice you must first analyze
  • Dedications
Lecture 4: Refuge and Lay Vows
  • Refuge ceremony motivation: The benefits of offering to the Buddha
  • Never waste this human body
  • Only with this human body can we do the body mandala practice
  • The benefits of offering to the Buddha (back to)
  • Refuge ceremony motivation: A Buddhist is an inner being
  • The twelve links and the three realms
  • The three types of suffering
  • The suffering of the six realms
  • Refuge ceremony
  • The importance of taking the vows
  • Dedication
  • The four harmonious brothers
  • Dedications (back to)
Lecture 5: Tara the Liberator
  • Tara initiation motivation: About all the Dharma projects
  • Tara initiation motivation: The guru is all the buddhas
  • All problems come from self-cherishing
  • Mistakes of not devoting to the guru are due to self-cherishing
  • Lack of all success comes from self-cherishing
  • Tara initiation motivation: Having stable guru devotion
  • Tara initiation motivation: Tara and Atisha
  • Tara initiation
Lecture 6: Purification Practices
  • The oral transmission of the Praises to the Twenty-one Taras
  • The oral transmission of the King of Prayers
  • Vajrasattva initiation motivation: Purifying sexual misconduct
  • Vajrasattva initiation motivation: Purifying covetousness
  • Vajrasattva initiation motivation: The four opponent powers
  • Dedications

Next Chapter:

1. The Kopan Experience »